Lance Armstrong - Victim of Witch Hunt of Epic Proportions
Anonymous2000 Send a noteboard - 25/08/2012 04:22:24 PM
Thought I would pass this along. Something to think about, from a buddy of mine:
As someone who follows cycling about as much as an American would, it is hard to argue that Lance is dirty. As mentioned previously, this isn't like other sports who make athletes pee in cups before or after an event and only in season. Lance would routinely be awoken in the middle of the night, during the off-season, and asked to submit samples. He was tested prior to races, during races (immediately after the day's stage, often requiring him to take IV fluids just to be able to produce the samples), after races, etc. The guy never, NEVER produced a dirty test. Several of his teammates, however, did. As also mentioned, being on Lance's team was not like being the 25th man on the Yankees. Being Lance's teammate meant making great money, but putting all personal performance goals aside. If it was your job to climb today, you climbed. If it was your job to sprint, you sprinted. If it was your job to chase down the leaders, you chased them down. Didn't matter how your felt or where you stood in the race. Being an established performer, like a guy like George Hincappie, that is tough to take, year after year after year. At some point, the money only goes so far and I can see how you want to see this guy get humbled and take a fall. Besides, by all accounts, Lance wasn't the best teammate in the sense that the word is used in multi stage cycle events. He was a single minded prick. His sole focus was HiS success. The sole focus of the team's general manager was Lance's success. The sole focus of Trek, was Lance's success. The team had a chef and Lance had his own chef. The team had massage therapists and Lance had his own therapist. The team had trainers and Lance had his own trainer.
If the real investigative arm of the US government dropped their case against Lance and the Euro and French cycling bodies never caught him, it is hard to believe that this podunk agency has the goods on him. Potential "eye witnesses" or not...
Also:
for those that cant understand the "witch hunt" aspect of this let me offer an analogy.
lets say there is a local cop that is just intent on getting you for something.
he then proceeds, for a period of 14 years or so, to pull you over at all hours of the day and night checking for proper registration, checking your tail lights, following you with a radar gun waiting for you to go 1 mph over the speed limit. pulling you over and giving you random DWI tests. knocking on your door in the middle of the night insisting on checking whether your insurance is current. etc. and after 500 attempts to find ANY reason to ticket you he STILL is unable to find anything wrong.
so, he finds 10 "witnesses" (most of whom have horrible driving histories and most of whom have their own personal gripes against you) who will "swear" that they observed you doing 68 in a 65 zone....in 1998.
oh, and he spent $9 million dollars in tax dollars in his attempt to nail you.
a pretty accurate analogy as it applies to the USADA and Armstrong.
As someone who follows cycling about as much as an American would, it is hard to argue that Lance is dirty. As mentioned previously, this isn't like other sports who make athletes pee in cups before or after an event and only in season. Lance would routinely be awoken in the middle of the night, during the off-season, and asked to submit samples. He was tested prior to races, during races (immediately after the day's stage, often requiring him to take IV fluids just to be able to produce the samples), after races, etc. The guy never, NEVER produced a dirty test. Several of his teammates, however, did. As also mentioned, being on Lance's team was not like being the 25th man on the Yankees. Being Lance's teammate meant making great money, but putting all personal performance goals aside. If it was your job to climb today, you climbed. If it was your job to sprint, you sprinted. If it was your job to chase down the leaders, you chased them down. Didn't matter how your felt or where you stood in the race. Being an established performer, like a guy like George Hincappie, that is tough to take, year after year after year. At some point, the money only goes so far and I can see how you want to see this guy get humbled and take a fall. Besides, by all accounts, Lance wasn't the best teammate in the sense that the word is used in multi stage cycle events. He was a single minded prick. His sole focus was HiS success. The sole focus of the team's general manager was Lance's success. The sole focus of Trek, was Lance's success. The team had a chef and Lance had his own chef. The team had massage therapists and Lance had his own therapist. The team had trainers and Lance had his own trainer.
If the real investigative arm of the US government dropped their case against Lance and the Euro and French cycling bodies never caught him, it is hard to believe that this podunk agency has the goods on him. Potential "eye witnesses" or not...
Also:
for those that cant understand the "witch hunt" aspect of this let me offer an analogy.
lets say there is a local cop that is just intent on getting you for something.
he then proceeds, for a period of 14 years or so, to pull you over at all hours of the day and night checking for proper registration, checking your tail lights, following you with a radar gun waiting for you to go 1 mph over the speed limit. pulling you over and giving you random DWI tests. knocking on your door in the middle of the night insisting on checking whether your insurance is current. etc. and after 500 attempts to find ANY reason to ticket you he STILL is unable to find anything wrong.
so, he finds 10 "witnesses" (most of whom have horrible driving histories and most of whom have their own personal gripes against you) who will "swear" that they observed you doing 68 in a 65 zone....in 1998.
oh, and he spent $9 million dollars in tax dollars in his attempt to nail you.
a pretty accurate analogy as it applies to the USADA and Armstrong.
Lance Armstrong - Victim of Witch Hunt of Epic Proportions
25/08/2012 04:22:24 PM
- 980 Views
You realize you're going to make Snoop's head explode, right? *NM*
25/08/2012 08:29:16 PM
- 463 Views
You assume I think his trolling has any credibility, it seems. *NM*
26/08/2012 05:14:45 PM
- 309 Views
Snoop = coward.....he turns tail and runs
26/08/2012 05:50:43 PM
- 626 Views
Oh dear Anonymous2000 would you be so kind as to show a thread of maturity? *NM*
26/08/2012 06:43:11 PM
- 303 Views
And testicular cancer, a known side effect of steroid abuse.
26/08/2012 02:44:18 AM
- 874 Views
Wow. Using his cancer as evidence against him. You've sunk to a new low. *NM*
26/08/2012 12:02:32 PM
- 315 Views
Meh. You have not responded to my POSTS, rather than their author, for several years.
26/08/2012 10:44:52 PM
- 631 Views
I just did. Using someone's life-threatening illness in an attempt to discredit them is disgusting.
27/08/2012 04:41:52 AM
- 595 Views
Using an illness doping commonly causes as evidence of doping is reasonable.
27/08/2012 04:57:01 AM
- 684 Views
What is your source that it 'commonly causes' it?
27/08/2012 06:15:39 AM
- 767 Views
You are right, I should not have said, "causes," but "is associated with."
27/08/2012 07:38:36 AM
- 848 Views
So, you screwed the pooch and have been proven wrong. Time for you to apologize. *NM*
28/08/2012 05:00:51 AM
- 298 Views
Fine: I am sorry I did not say, "And testicular cancer, known to be associated with steroid abuse."
28/08/2012 06:20:03 AM
- 928 Views
I actually agree with you.
27/08/2012 06:36:55 AM
- 768 Views
They have no evidence whatsoever. Most folks agree with us, as per numerous.....
28/08/2012 05:04:37 AM
- 604 Views
Not to rain on your parade or anything, as I'm not entirely convinced either, but...
28/08/2012 10:07:56 PM
- 623 Views